abstract:Capital punishment (also called the death penalty) in the United States is limited under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and, in practice, is used almost exclusively for aggravated murders committed by mentally competent adults. However since 1994 the death penalty can be used against people who sell illegal narcotics and those accused of treason.
Correa noted that capitalpunishment exists intheUnitedStates for a "political crime, " and that fact could be sufficient grounds to grant Julian Assange asylum.